Michelle McCool Talks About Working with Beth Phoenix

By Amish Patel -
December 30, 2012

– MichelleMcCool.net passed along the following highlights of Michelle McCool talking about Beth Phoenix:

Never a Dream Match: “Everyone always used to ask when I was going to wrestle her or I want to see you in a one-on-one match with her. I think one of the most consistent answers for any of the girls when they’re asked “who do you want to wrestle” is Beth Phoenix — but that was never really the case for me, as far as an opponent or dream opponent. For me, that was always Molly Holly, Lita and Awesome Kong/Kharma. Personally, Beth was never the answer for me.”

Finisher Gone Wrong: For the most part of both of our careers, we were on different brands. She was on RAW for most of the time and I was on SmackDown. Never any ill words towards each other — from what I know. We did have the chance to face off pretty early on in my career [SmackDown, Champion vs. Champion] and that was the first time I had gotten in the ring with her. So she gives me her Glam Slam and I take it straight on my face because my arms didn’t come unhooked.”

Botch Phoenix?: “At the time, I was like: “Oh, man. I’ve never seen that happen before. How did she not get my arms unhooked?” I didn’t understand, but figured it must have just been a mistake. I never said anything, but I did have a concussion from that. But I’ll never give anybody any credit for hurting me — that’s just my stubbornness, it has nothing to do with WWE. I’ve just always been that way. At the time, I just thought she didn’t even know she did it.”

Truth Revealed: “Come to find out, and it wasn’t even that long ago, I remember getting the WWE magazine in the mail and flipping through the pages. Sure enough, she’s doing an interview in the magazine talking about when she gave me the Glam Slam and saying how bad my head hit the mat, how she didn’t unhook my arms and oops! I’m just like: “Wow. Years later, the truth comes out.” She knew that she did that, it definitely sounded like she knew she did it at the time. I was just like: “Dang! What did I ever do to her?” What was that? Was that my “I didn’t come in the ranks” welcome to the rings match — what? I didn’t care. I just blew it off.”

Difficult Times: “So she comes to SmackDown and LayCool was well-established by that time. WWE put us in a program with Beth and LayCool was just doing their usual LayCool stuff: Glam-A-Man, The Manazon… just LayCool being stupid LayCool. Kind of like when nobody thought Mickie was actually fat, nobody thought Beth was actually a man. It was just our stupid gimmick, and I use the term stupid affectionately.

Working With Beth: “It was definitely bumpy, to say the least. It was never easy. I understand that it can’t be easy on the other side of the LayCool gimmick, no matter how tough the exterior is. It was just definitely a struggle. Being a Diva in a man’s world, you’re constantly in an uphill battle; pitching ideas, trying to get TV time, trying to get in-ring time, the whole nine yards.”

Behind Closed Doors: “It seemed like we were on the same page — pitching stuff, throwing ideas off one another in the locker room, but then come to find out… that wasn’t the case behind-the-scenes. We didn’t understand why stuff would keep getting shot down. Steph, agents and writers would come to us and say: “we’re no longer doing this,” or “this hits too close to home.” Whatever. There was definitely some stuff being said on the other end and that made it a struggle. She could have just been at a different place in her life, we all go through tough times or confusing times — I just don’t really know what her case was. I’m sure people will start hating me for my own opinion, but that wasn’t a fun LayCool storyline for us. We had some good matches and I’m always going to do business, but I think I had a different experience with her than most people who wrestle with her or against her.”

Business Is Business: “I hope she’s completely happy now, she’s done some great things — but like I said: she was never a dream opponent for me, and that’s all I really have to say about that. Wish her nothing but the best, hope she’s in a good place and enjoying life. Sadly, my most memorable thing with her is that I’m probably the only person in Glam Slam history to not have had their arms unhooked… ouch.”